Angels News: Halos Reportedly Made a Huge Offer for This Top Catcher
Angels GM Perry Minasian is not just talking the talk. At the Winter Meetings, he mentioned the team could exceed the $233 million luxury tax threshold, something this team has never done.
Fans were wary of believing those words, as this team is already at a franchise-record payroll and owner Arte Moreno is getting set to sell the team.
However, fans didn't have to be wary for long.
On Wednesday, the Cardinals agreed to a five-year, $87.5 million deal with All-Star catcher Willson Contreras, but according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, there was a surprise bidder.
"The Cardinals outbid the Los Angeles Angels and the Houston Astros, the defending World Series champions who made a compelling offer to Contreras."
The Angels were reportedly in on Contreras, the top free agent catcher on the market. Catcher is an area of need for this team, but they weren't expected to pursue the most expensive options on the market.
Unfortunately the Angels weren't able to land him, but this did prove how committed this team is to winning next season. Clearly, Minasian wasn't messing around when he said this team could exceed the luxury tax threshold. They want to win, and they want to win now.
Expect the Angels to make some more win-now moves over the course of the next few months. Their offseason is clearly far from over.